The Latest: State unable to tap vein in aborted execution

This image provided by the Alabama Department of Corrections shows Doyle Lee Hamm, an inmate scheduled to be executed Thursday, Feb. 22, 2018 in Alabama. Alabama is set to execute Hamm, who argues his past drug use and cancer have too badly damaged his veins and will make the lethal injection unconstitutionally painful. (Alabama Department of Corrections via AP)AP

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Latest on the postponed execution of an Alabama inmate (all times local):

7:30 p.m.

A lawyer says execution team members tried unsuccessfully to find a usable vein in a death row inmate, sticking him repeatedly in the lower legs, ankles and groin, before calling off the lethal injection.

That description of what took place during Doyle Lee Hamm’s aborted execution Thursday night was contained in a motion his attorney Bernard Harcourt filed in court Friday.

Harcourt wrote that the execution team inserted needles multiple times on his left and right legs and ankles and then tried multiple times to insert the line in his groin, causing “severe bleeding and pain.”

State officials announced at 11:30 p.m. Thursday that they were cancelling the execution because medical staff said they didn’t think they could obtain “appropriate venous access” before the execution warrant expired at midnight.

Harcourt is seeking additional information about the aborted execution.

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2:20 p.m.

A federal judge has cancelled a Monday hearing on an Alabama inmate’s aborted execution.

Chief Judge Karon O Bowdre issued the decision Friday, but kept in place a directive to the state of Alabama to preserve records about the attempted execution of Doyle Lee Hamm.

State officials announced at 11:30 p.m. Thursday that they were cancelling the execution because medical staff said they didn’t think they could obtain “appropriate venous access” before the execution warrant expired at midnight.

His attorney says he wants to know what happened when prison officials tried to insert a lethal injection line.

The prisoner has argued in court that years of drug use and illness left his veins unusable for authorities to kill him by lethal injection.

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11:20 a.m.

A federal judge has scheduled a Monday hearing to discuss what happened during an aborted lethal injection in Alabama.

Lawyers for an Alabama inmate Doyle Lee Hamm requested the hearing Friday. They said they want to find out what transpired as prison officials tried to connect him with a lethal injection line.

Lawyers wrote that Hamm “endured two-and-a-half hours of attempted venous access” before the state halted the execution.

State officials announced at 11:30 p.m. Thursday that they were cancelling the execution because medical staff said didn’t think they could obtain appropriate venous access before the execution warrant expired at midnight.

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8:20 a.m.

The state of Alabama must seek a new execution date for a condemned inmate if it still wants to execute him following an unexpected postponement.

The prisoner has argued in court that years of drug use and illness left his veins unusable for authorities to kill him by lethal injection.

The delay means the state attorney general’s office must ask the Alabama Supreme Court for a new execution date if it still intends to execute Hamm.

The attorney general’s office didn’t immediately respond to a message about its plans on Friday.

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12:35 a.m.

Alabama’s prison commissioner says the state halted an inmate’s execution by lethal injection because medical staff were having difficulty connecting an intravenous line.

Corrections Commissioner Jeff Dunn said Friday morning that staff did not think they could get the line connected before the death warrant expired at midnight Thursday. Dunn said it was a “time issue.” Officials first announced at 11:35 p.m. Thursday that the execution had been halted.

Hamm’s attorney, Bernard Harcourt, said he had been arguing since July that Hamm’s veins were too compromised by illness for lethal injection.

Harcourt had argued that lymphoma, drug use and hepatitis C had compromised Hamm’s veins to the point that lethal injection would be both difficult and unconstitutionally cruel.

Alabama prison officials had told the courts that they planned to connect the intravenous line to usable veins below the knee.

Hamm was sentenced to die after being convicted of murder in the 1987 slaying of a motel clerk.

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